Book Cougars Podcast: Two Middle-Aged Women on the Hunt for a Good Read

Welcome to Episode 260! It’s another 10th episode, which means we have a GIVEAWAY for newsletter subscribers. One lucky subscriber of our free monthly newsletter will win hardcover copies of:

Agnes Sharp and the Wedding to Die For by Leonie Swann, translated by Amy Bojang

Finlay Donovan Crosses the Line by Elle Cosimano

Missing Sister by Joshilyn Jackson

Subscribe by May 21 to be entered to win–there’s a link in the shownotes, or go directly to our website. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator on May 22, 2026.

It will come as no surprise that we talk about A LOT of books in this two-hour episode. First of all, we went to The Northshire Book Festival: A Weekend in Booktopia, where we saw the following authors talk about their new books:

All the World Can Hold by Jung Yun

Anderson in Bloom by Jennifer Dugan

Crucible by John Sayles

Dreamt I Found You by Jimin Han

Little Movements by Lauren Morrow

Mrs. Benedict Arnold by Emma Parry

Pollock’s Last Lover by Stephen P. Kiernan

Take It From Me by Alia Hannah Habib

The Curious Calling of Leonard Bush by Susan Gregg Gilmore

Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer

Whidbey by T Kira Madden

Booktopia is our favorite Biblio Adventure, and we hope Northshire does it again next year!

And then JOHN VALERI, Our Mystery Man, joins us to talk about Buddy Reads! Emily and John discuss WELCOME TO THE HYUNAM-DONG BOOKSHOP by Hwang Bo-Reum, translated by Shanna Tan. Chris and John talk about Patricia Cornwell’s new memoir, TRUE CRIME, and their reread of her Scarpetta series.

If you’d like to get together with us to talk about FRIED GREEN TOMATOES AT THE WHISTLE STOP CAFE by Fannie Flagg, we still have a couple of spots available for our June 7th discussion. Email us at [email protected].

We hope you enjoy this mammoth episode as much as we enjoyed recording it. Happy Listening and Happy Reading!

https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2026/episode260

Welcome to Episode 259!

We got a lot of reading done since the last episode:

📖 Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum, translated by Shanna Tan

📖 The Body Farm: Scarpetta #5 by Patricia Cornwell

📖 The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout

📖 All the World Can Hold by Jung Yun

📖 Blunt Instrument by Amy Bloom

📖 Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

In Biblio Adventures, Chris celebrated Independent Bookstore Day at The Book Barn in Niantic and at Bank Square Books in Mystic. Emily visited her son in Colorado and had a productive workday at the Carbondale Public Library, one of her favorites. She also discovered a speakeasy-style cocktail bar and restaurant at the Denver airport – it’s in the A gates behind a facade of book-filled bookshelves! The facade holds real books that are a take-one-leave-one library.

This year is the 35th anniversary of the movie adaptation of Fannie Flag’s novel, FRIED GREEN TOMATOES AT THE WHISTLE STOP CAFE, which just so happens to be our second quarter readalong pick. There will be showings at major theater chains this month, so check out your local listings. There are a few spots left for our June 7th discussion of the novel and movie (7 pm ET). Email us – [email protected] – if you’d like to participate.

Happy Listening and Happy Reading!

https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2026/episode259

Welcome to Episode 258!

In a first for Book Cougars Author Spotlights, we welcome back an author not to discuss their next book, but to learn about why and how their first novel is being published for a second time – with a new publisher and a new ending! We enjoyed Heather Harper Ellett’s debut novel, AIN’T NOBODY NOBODY, and were thrilled to invite her back to talk about the new life being breathed into her fantastic literary mystery, which also now has an audiobook version. Don’t miss our conversation, which follows our regular segments.

We finished/DNF’d some good/okay reads since last time:

– PET SEMATARY by Stephen King

– THE GOLDEN BOY by Patricia Finn

– TRUE CRIME: A Memoir by Patricia Cornwell

– RAISING HARE by Chloe Dalton

– SHOELESS JOE JACKSON COMES TO IOWA: Stories by W.P. Kinsella

In Biblio Adventures, we visited some fabulous independent and used bookstores:

–CT: River Bend Bookshop’s new location in West Hartford; Grey Matter Books, the Book Trader Cafe, and Atticus Bookstore Cafe in New Haven

–MA: Papercuts Bookshop in Jamaica Plain, Boston

–NYC: Pickle Books and P&T Knitwear Books on the Lower East Side

And check out Emily’s conversation with author Rebecca Kauffman about her novel THE RESERVATION over on Ingredient One.

As always, we talk about more books and #biblioadventures than we list here. We hope you enjoy the episode and check out the show notes for links to all/most of the books, movies, and places that we mention.

Happy Listening and Happy Reading!

https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2026/episode258

We have a fascinating Author Spotlight with EMILY FRANKLIN whose new novel comes out today! LOVE AND OTHER MONSTERS is historical fiction at its finest – engaging and well researched – that tells the story of Claire Clairmont, Mary Shelley’s stepsister, who was very much a part of the group that spent time in that Swiss villa writing (or not writing) ghost stories to pass the time during the Year Without Summer. Who was Claire? Why has Claire been forgotten by history? Why did Mary intentionally leave Claire out of her 1831 preface to Frankenstein? You’ll have to read the novel to find out, but first, we hope you enjoy our conversation with Emily.

Books we discuss in our “Just Read” segment:

WRITTEN IN THE WATERS: A Memory of History, Home, and Belonging by Tara Roberts

IN THE SHADOW OF YOUNG GIRLS IN FLOWER: In Search of Lost Time, Volume 2 by Marcel Proust

CRUEL & UNUSUAL, Scarpetta Book 4, by Patricia Cornwell

THE SUMMER BOOK by Tove Jansson

As always, we also talk about what we’re currently reading, what we hope to read, and Biblio Adventures.

Happy Listening and Happy Reading!

https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2026/episode257

Welcome to Episode 256 featuring our Author Spotlight with biographer Sara Catterall! Sara’s new book, AMELIA BLOOMER: Journalist, Suffragist, Anti-Fashion Icon, was on Chris’s Top Ten list, and Emily was so into it that she cried at the end. We think biography lovers, history buffs, women’s rights advocates, and activists of all stripes will enjoy this biography. We had a great time talking with Sara, so don’t miss our conversation with her at the end of the episode.

In our “Just Read” segment, we talk about a wide variety of books:

ANDERSON IN BLOOM by Jennifer Dugan

THIS BOOK MADE ME THINK OF YOU by Libby Page

EVERY DAY I READ: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books by Hwang Bo-reum, translated by Shanna Tan

NEVER CAUGHT: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar

MISSING SISTER by Joshilyn Jackson

ULTRALEARNING: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career by Scott H. Young

In #BiblioAdventures, we recap several “Couch Biblio Adventures,” including watching the movie HARRIET, binging the new season of VIRGIN RIVER, and dipping into the new SCARPETTA series. Chris was in Rhode Island and visited the B&N in Warwick, and finally got inside Ink Fish Books in Warren. She also saw Edith Wharton’s house in Newport, where the writer lived prior to building her dream home in the Berkshires. Emily had zero luck seeing Laura Zigman and Alice Hoffman in conversation about the new collection of essays, THE BEST DOG IN THE WORLD – events have been sold out! Congrats to them for a successful book launch.

We’re also #currentlyreading some great books and have our eyes on some beauties we can’t wait to get to.

Happy Listening and Happy Reading!

https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2026/episode256

Welcome to Episode 255, where we dig into talking about FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley! We also discuss two adaptations that we’ve watched. We both plan to watch more adaptations and remain fascinated by Shelley and her work, so we are not done with FRANKENSTEIN. Thanks to everyone who attended the Zoom discussion and to those who have chatted with us via email, Goodreads, and social media.

Books we finished since the last episode and talk about include:

HOBOMOK AND OTHER WRITINGS ON INDIANS by Lydia Marie Child

AWAKE IN THE FLOATING CITY by Susanna Kwan

ALL THAT REMAINS by Patricia Cornwell

THE RESERVATION by Rebecca Kauffman

In Biblio Adventures, we got to see THE LIBRARIANS documentary, directed by Kim A. Snyder, at the Schubert Theater in New Haven. It drew a big crowd of librarians and library lovers. The film documents the attack on school libraries launched by a billionaire and politician, with cookie-cutter campaigns that spread across Texas and into other states, such as New Jersey. Librarians are on the front lines fighting against these threats to our First Amendment rights and the foundations of our democracy. New showings are added to their website regularly, and you may be able to organize one yourself. It is streaming on PBS from Feb 9-May 9, 2026 [https://thelibrariansfilm.com/streaming/]

As for Couch Biblio Adventures, we both watched FRANKENSTEIN, directed by Guillermo Del Toro. Chris also recommends Frankenstein: The Anatomy Lesson, a short documentary on the making of Del Toro’s adaptation. And she watched FRANKENSTEIN: The Man Who Made a Monster, starring Boris Karloff, who originated the iconic flat-headed creature with neck electrodes. It is interesting to see which aspects of Shelley’s story movie makers choose to focus on, what changes they make, and the new elements/characters they create. We are checking off some boxes on our Page-to-Screen Bingo card.

We hope you enjoy this episode, and that you are finding comfort, inspiration, and understanding in books.

Happy Reading!

Welcome to Episode 254! We are so excited to welcome Tiya Miles to the podcast to discuss her most recent book, NIGHT FLYER: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People. Don’t miss our conversation, which immediately follows our regular segments. [Should we put in a time stamp?]

Chris has finished FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley, and Emily is #currentlyreading the novel, so we talk about it, but not too much, since we will discuss it in depth on Episode 255 after our March 1st Zoom conversation with listeners. We still have some spots available–if you’d like to join in, send us an email ([email protected]).

Other books we are currently reading include IN THE SHADOW OF YOUNG GIRLS IN FLOWER: In Search of Lost Time, Volume 2 by Marcel Proust, THE RESERVATION by Rebecca Kauffman, and RUSS & DAUGHTERS: 100 Years of Appetizing by Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper.

Our BiblioAdventures have primarily been of the Couch variety: Chris watched a Jane Austen-inspired romance called SENSE, SENSIBILITY, & SNOWMEN, and Emily watched the second event in the Aspen Winter Words series featuring Mitzi Rapkin in conversation with Lily King about her new novel, HEART THE LOVER. We did run into a delightful Little Free Library after a delicious dinner at Fair Haven Oyster Co. along the banks of the Quinnipiac River, and we sing the praises of a #LFL we both often visit in Stony Creek, CT.

NEW BOOKSTORE ALERT! If you’re in Chicago, Partners in Crime Bookshop just celebrated their grand opening. Let us know about it if you check it out, or tag us (#bookcougars) if you post photos of your visit.

Okay, we’ll stop writing now so you can start listening. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it!

Happy Reading!

Show notes for the episode can be found here: https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2026/episode254

Welcome to Episode 247!

Can you believe it is already time to share our annual Holiday Gift Ideas?? Each year, starting with Episode 2 back in 2016, we share some bookish (or biblioadventuring) gifts. We hope you benefit from these in the form of presents for loved ones and/or for yourself!

We also discuss our fourth quarter readalong pick – the last in our year of reading ghost stories – HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE by Grady Hendrix. Thanks to everyone who read along and those who attended the Zoom conversation. Cacawewe!

In our Just Read segment, we talk about:

THE BONE THIEF by Vanessa Lillie

WITCHES OF DUBIOUS ORIGIN by Jenn McKinlay

ANNE BRONTË NIGHT WALKER: A Brontë Blood Chronicle by Gea Haff

Chris also DNF’d two novels. It happens.

In Biblio Adventures, Emily went to Bank Square Books in Mystic to hear Luanne Rice in conversation with Vanessa Lillie about her novel THE BONE THIEF. Chris had a good old browse at Barnes & Noble in Milford, CT, where she stumbled upon one of our gift ideas.

Thank you to this episode’s sponsor RESONANT BLUE AND OTHER STORIES by Mary Vensel White.

Happy Listening and, until next time, we wish you lots of Happy Reading!

https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2025/episode247

Welcome to Episode 252, where we share LISTENER TOP TEN READS of 2025! In past years, there hasn’t been much of a spread between the first and second place books on the list. But this year there is a 15-point spread between the first and second books! As usual, the first-place book was a novel, but the second-place book was nonfiction—a first ever for that. Usually, nonfiction doesn’t show up until well into the list’s mid-teens. Thanks to everyone who shared their top tens– you help grow our TBR lists! Reminder that we have a Top 10 shelf on our Bookshop.org page for purchase and for you to learn more about each of the books.

We also talk about our 2026 Reading Intentions. These are often works in progress, which is a good thing, because after recording, we both realized we had forgotten a couple of intentions.

It had been a longer-than-usual time span since we last recorded a regular episode, so we had some catching up to do in our “Just Read” segment, which includes:

BETH IS DEAD by Katie Bernet

PRACTICAL MAGIC by Alice Hoffman

A BACKWARD GLANCE by Edith Wharton

BODYWORK: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative by Melissa Febos

POSTMORTEM and BODY OF EVIDENCE by Patricia Cornwell

THE AUTHOR WEEKEND by Laura Zigman (release date 5/5/2026)

A TANGLE OF OBSIDIAN by Lydia M. Hawke

THEO OF GOLDEN by Allen Levi

We had some wonderful Couch Biblio Adventures, but we also managed to get out into the world. Emily visited Slackline Press in Branford, Connecticut, and Davoll’s General Store in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, where she saw Catherine Newman in conversation with Emily Franklin. Chris was in Huntsville, Alabama, and visited The Snail on the Wall bookstore, named after Virginia Woolf’s short story, “The Mark on the Wall.” She also checked out the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library.

Happy listening, take care of yourself, and stay safe out there. Until next time, we wish you lots of Happy Reading!

Welcome to Episode 251 – Another Annual Top Ten Celebration with Russell of Ink and Paper Blog!

We each share our list of Top Ten books read in 2025 and a favorite Biblio Adventure. Of course, more than 30 books were mentioned during this conversation. It seems impossible to narrow it down to ten books, and we remind ourselves that these are our top ten that day, but it is a fun exercise.

Don’t forget to submit your Top Ten reads via our Google form: http://bit.ly/ListenerTopTen2025 We will discuss listener top tens on the next episode.

Happy Listening and Happy Reading!

https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2025/episode251